Pianist Hannah Li, 10, is the 2014 Deborah L. Fox Guild Award winner. The award is named in memory of long-time Young Artists’ competition organizer, board member and flutist.

Marie Stillwell developed the Young Artists Concerto Competition and Concert in 1981 to recognize exceptional classical music instrumental performances by outstanding young talent in the bi-state region.

Alton Symphony Orchestra President Jerre Honke said the four selected performers – and all of the 30 contestants who competed, are unbelievably talented.

“And the experience of performing a concerto with the orchestra is not only a privilege for our Young Artists winners,” Honke said. “It is also a privilege for our players and audience members who get to hear and appreciate them. We’re continually amazed by the talent and poise of these exceptional, dedicated young musicians.”

Honke served as administrator of this year’s program. Judges were Laura Garritson Parker, assistant professor of music at Principia College and a former Young Artists winner herself; Cathy Woelbling-Paul, a teacher and oboist with Alton Symphony Orchestra and other St Louis community orchestras; and Jamie Mills, who teaches voice at Lewis and Clark Community College.

Son has been playing the violin since she was 3 years old. She is the concertmaster of the Marquette Catholic High School Symphonic Orchestra, and has been a member of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra since eighth grade. She is currently studying with Hiroko Yoshida of the St. Louis Symphony. She won the 2012 Midwest Young Artist Competition, the Florence Frager Young Artist Competition in 2013, and The William Schatzkamer Young Artists’ Competition in 2014, among others.

Polinsky is a freshman at Clayton High School. She began studying violin at the age of 5. She studies in St. Louis with Dana Edson Myers and in Chicago with Almita and Roland Vamos. She is in the first violin section of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra and participates in the Community Music School Preparatory Program under the direction of Vera Parkin. She won STL’s Got Talent Competition, Community Music School Concerto Competition, Belleville Philharmonic Stars of Tomorrow Young Artists Competition, among others, and is a finalist in the St. Louis Teen Talent Competition.

Lin is in 11th grade at Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School. He has studied piano with Laura Schindler of St. Louis for 12 years. He has been a district winner in the Missouri Music Teachers Association Auditions and received several Missouri Music Teachers Association State Competition awards. He has also won numerous awards for both solo and piano ensemble. He was a recipient of the “Alice B. Schindler Student Award,” and was soloist with the Belleville Philharmonic Orchestra as a Stars of Tomorrow winner. He received first place in the Morning Etude Tri-Annual Piano Competition. He also plays clarinet in the Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School High School Band.

Li took her first piano lesson when she was 4, and studied under Marlita Weiss since 2008. She actively plays in regional, state and nationwide piano auditions, festivals and competitions. She won the Gold Medal at the 2010 World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, and in her division, was winner of the 2010 Missouri Music Teachers Association State Competition, the 2011 Missouri Music Teachers Association State Competition, the 2012 Scott Joplin Ragtime Competition, and the 2013 MMTA State Competition.

The artists will perform solos in works that feature movements of the great violin concertos composed by Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky, said Alton Symphony Orchestra Music Director and Conductor Wm. Shane Williams. Also on the program is Haydn’s “Piano Concerto in D Major’” and Liszt’s well-known “Hungarian Fantasy” for piano and orchestra.

“The evening will be filled with some of the most exciting, up-and-coming musicians of our day,” Williams said. “It is a tremendous opportunity for these young artists to have the special privilege of performing with a full orchestra. I truly enjoy helping contribute to the professional development of these outstanding young musicians.”

Alton Symphony Orchestra will also recognize several high school students who have played with the regular orchestra. Some were former members of the Alton Youth Symphony, and have been awarded a stipend for private lessons or summer camp for music studies.

Wine, soft drinks and desserts will be available for purchase by Bella Milano Restaurant before the concert and during intermission.

Honke said the symphony is looking for a new coordinator for the Young Artists Concerto Competition, and said music teachers or those who enjoy music are a good fit, preferably someone who would also be interested in joining the board.

The concert is funded in part by grants from the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

The Marie Stillwell Young Artists’ Concert will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 19, in Hatheway Hall on the campus of LCCC. Tickets cost $10 for adults; $5 for seniors, age 62 and older. Children through 12th grade, and LCCC students, faculty and staff are free. Tickets can be purchased at the door or at Halpin Music in Alton. For more information on the concert, call (618) 463-6933 or visit the Alton Symphony Orchestra website at www.altonsymphony.org. If interested in the position of Alton Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Concerto Competition coordinator or serving on Alton Symphony Orchestra’s Board of Directors, contact Honke at (618) 462-2314 or honke@sbcglobal.net.

Vicki Bennington can be reached at vbennington@sbcglobal.net and Twitter @vicben1.